Why quality music education - and teacher training - is key to student success
In the latest edition of NSW Teachers Federation’s Journal of Professional Learning, Dr. Anita Collins emphasises the need to equip primary teachers with the skills and confidence to teach music, noting that many feel unprepared due to inadequate training.
Writes Anita:
"Why is it daunting? The overwhelming reason that I hear from primary teachers in NSW sounds something like this: 'I’m not musical' or 'I can’t sing'... These reasons are centred on the primary teacher’s confidence and competency to make music themselves."
Anita suggests that the gap in teacher training limits the effectiveness of music education and its broader impact on students' development, making it crucial to address this issue quickly. Research shows that well-trained teachers can make a significant difference, as teaching music goes beyond singing or reading notes—it's about equipping students with essential learning skills. Music education is proven to enhance brain development, supporting learning across all subjects and improving outcomes for students, including those with special learning needs such as ADHD, dyslexia, and ASD.
As Anita posits: "With … neuroscientific research pointing to music education as both an enhancement and intervention tool for all students, shouldn’t we be ensuring that every NSW student is receiving a quality, ongoing and sequential music education?"
The NSW Primary Teachers Survey, conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for this initiative collaboration with the Teacher’s Federation and NSW Department of Education, with funding from Sound NSW, is the first to provide data on the state of music education in NSW's government primary schools. Early insights confirm many of our assumptions about initial teacher education, and reinforce the need for the framework we proposed in our submission to the Joint Select Committee on Arts and Music Education and Training.
Our recommendations include setting targets for 50% of NSW public primary schools to offer quality, sequential, and ongoing music education by 2027, increasing to 75% by 2029, and reaching all schools by 2031. This should be delivered by well-trained, confident, and supported teachers.
Anita asserts that ensuring every NSW teacher feels confident and well-equipped to teach music will not only improve their effectiveness in the classroom, but also enhance students' learning abilities, wellbeing, self-regulation, sense of safety, and engagement: “We know that every primary teacher can be supported to bring quality music education to their students with all the benefits that this offers.”
With the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Arts and Music Education set to release its findings on December 13, now is the time to advocate for quality, sequential music education. By driving significant improvements in resources, training, and support for primary teachers, we can ultimately ensure that music education becomes a key part of the classroom experience, as promised in the national curriculum.
Read Dr Anita Collins’ article in the Journal of Professional Learning here.
